March 2020 – Lakewood United Church of Christ

De Colores

de colores Number 402 in the New Century Hymnal, this song is always sung with enthusiasm by our congregation, often with the first verse in Spanish and the second in English.

You can find the history of this song HERE along with the words, both Spanish and English. Our hymnal only has the two verses, but you can see from that Wikipedia link it has many more. I wish they were all in our hymnal because this song is easily sung many times, each time with the unique opening chord–an A6 for those music theory inclined–held with a sway, leaning into the beat.

Just a reminder that the complete collection of these hymn recordings is available for free listening (streaming) at https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/sets/hymns-at-lakewood. When each new recording is posted on the church website, it is also added to this album.

God’s Eye Is on the Sparrow

His Eye Is on the Sparrow The records of the incomparable Mahalia Jackson were much loved in my home as a child. This song, then, as now, was one of my favorites of her recordings.

The actual title of the song is Why Should I Feel Discouraged. Also, in the United Church of Christ we use gender neutral language. So, you may be more familiar with the original text version, His Eye Is on the Sparrow. God’s Eye Is on the Sparrow is # 475 in the New Century Hymnal.

To sing along, go to https://hymnary.org/text/why_should_i_feel_discouraged for the old text and the music.

Meeting to Discuss the Adult Day Care

Church leaders meet to go over the proposed lease from Neighborly Services for the Adult Day Care at the church. Thank you so much Patti Cooksey, Bill Parsons, and Earl Waters for working on this!

And why haven’t we been meeting outside before?

Wendeyaho

Screen Shot 2020-03-29 at 4.40.50 AM Something different this morning! It’s not found in any hymnal although it should be; rather, it’s a Native American hymn traditionally sung to the four directions in the morning by the women of the community. The arrangements and orchestrations are my own. I’ve done several settings–orchestra, solo piano, and choir–the first two of which are presented here.

“Wendeyaho” is often described as a “Cherokee Morning Song.” However discussion of it on the Internet indicates that the word, “Wendeyaho,” is not contemporary Cherokee, although it may have its origins in an ancient form of the language. The translation I was able to piece together from various internet sources is as follows:

Translation – We n’ de ya ho
Freely translated: “A we n'” (I am),
“de” (of),
“Yauh” –the– (Great Spirit),
“Ho” (it is so).

First, here is my orchestral arrangement.

And, here is the piano solo arrangement. Feel free to download the 2 page sheet music PDF from THIS LINK so you can play it at home, yourself. You need to do some tricky shifting of hands to cover all the parts in the last two variations, but it’s doable, I promise.